Metro-NY AIHA Meeting on Vermiculite, Part 1

We attended the Metro New York (Metro-NY) American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) chapter meeting on September 9, 2013.  This meeting was on the "New York State Asbestos & Vermiculite Analysis Guidance Update" it was presented in two parts, part one by Robert J. DeMalo, Senior Vice President of Lab. Services & Business Development and part two by Edward Cahill, Vice President of Asbesto, both from EMSL Analytical, Inc.  For pictures from the event visit Metro NY AIHA web album and for copies of EMSL's powerpoint presentation visit Metro-NY AIHA Meetings website for the Part 1 Handout and the Part 2 Handout.

Sample Passed Around the During the Meeting

Some very interesting facts from the first part of the presentation included:

• The Libby mine was the source of an estimated 70-90% of all vermiculite sold in the US from 1919 to 1990.
• Veins of asbestos contaminated most, if not all of the material taken from the mine; Libby Amphibole was an accessory mineral."
• The Libby mine in 1926 opened up a vein of asbestos that is considered one of the largest deposits of asbestos ever uncovered.
• Regardless of the method used to analyze the material a mixture of regulated asbestos as well as non-regulated asbestos is likely to be encountered.
• "Libby Amphiboles" is a collective term for the complex mixture of amphiboles that are known to exist at the Libby mine site.  That mixture is Winchite (nonregulated amphibole); Richterite (nonregulated amphibole); and Tremolite (regulated amphibole).
• Increased mortality rates are observed not only among the miners and their families, even in citizens with no direct connection to the mine.  Mortality rates are 40 times higher than the rest of Montana and 60 times higher than the rest of the US.

Based on the above information it is clear that Libby Amphiboles are the problem and that the nonregulated amphibole portions of the vermiculite is also a problem.  According to the US Geological Survey, the amount of asbestiform amphiboles contaminating the Libby vermiculite as approximately 84% winchite, 11% richterite, and 6% tremolite (American Mineralogist; November 2003; v. 88; no. 11-12; p. 1955-1969).  The mortality rate indicates a need to regulate these amphiboles plus others minerals that we now typically call elongated mineral particles (see NIOSH website for more information regarding asbestos fibers and other elongated mineral particles).  In our next blog post we will discuss part two of the vermiculite meeting.

Related articles

• New Vermiculite Guidance Shifts Liability to Consultants & Owners
• The Facts about Vermiculite!
• Where Have You Been, Davey Boy?
• Baucus brings Medicare official to Libby, seeks fix for asbestos victims

Colorado Man's Home is a Living Laboratory.

Part 2 of the "Killer In The Attic" articles from AOL News discussed the story of 71 year-old William Cawlfield, who has mesothelioma.  Mr. Cawlfield lives in a two-story red-brick farmhouse in Pueblo, Colorado that had been his family's home for more than a century.  When he was 15 years old Mr. Cawlfield helped his father install Zonolite insulation in the attic.  In addition, Mr Cawlfield also said "I used to play up there and kept my toys and a bunch of books because it was like a sand pile where I could hide things,..."  He had no knowledge that the material contained asbestos.

Last month, Cawlfield stood outside his family's home watching a specially trained asbestos-removal experts wearing respirators and dressed head to toe in Tyvek carefully remove the Zonolite insulation from inside. He was paying $15,000 to have them do so.  The reason he was doing this was testing conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Denver regional office found that high levels of the lethal tremolite fibers were released from the Zonolite insulation that was spread between the rafters in its attic.  EPA inspectors concluded that the almost-invisible asbestos-containing dust from the Zonolite sifted though the light fixtures and switches, ceiling fans and the seams of dried-out joint tape.  Copies of the reports from EPA (that AOL News obtained) determined that some of the levels of asbestos recorded in the house exceeded the maximum number of lethal fibers that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says is too dangerous for workers.

Unfortunately, EPA continues to not provide any guidance to the asbestos abatement industry on how to handle this material and continues to rely on its website as the only source of information on this dangerous situation.

Related articles

• Government Refuses to Act on Cancer-Causing Insulation (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• Asbestos-Tainted Zonolite Still Ignored By Feds: Government Refuses To Act (huffingtonpost.com)
• "It's on our website": an insufficient response to asbestos danger lurking in millons of attics (scienceblogs.com)
• Window Company Owner Fined Following Asbestos Exposure (first4lawyers.com)
• The EPA Tracks Down its Asbestos-Abetting Fugitive (sierraclub.typepad.com)

Proposed Settlement Regarding Asbestos in CSI Toy

A nationwide class action against CBS Broadcasting, Inc. and major toy retailers, if approved, would give cash refunds to consumers and effectively implement a nationwide recall of toy science kits, based on the popular "CSI" television drama series. Click on the title to see the press release. To request a claim form visit www.csitoyssettlement.com. The class action covered two toy kits "The CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Fingerprint Examination Kit (CSI Exam Kit)" and "The CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Forensic Lab Kit (CSI Lab Kit)." Both toys were made by now-bankrupt Planet Toys, Inc. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization conducted tests in 2007 on the white fingerprint powder in the toy kits and found tremolite asbestos. Consumers seeking refunds must submit claim form to a claims administrator by January 14, 2010.